Like...chewing your juice.
I would like to say things have been quiet, but that would not be accurate. I've had a lot going on.
Every day brings a new perspective and new ideas. I feel like every week I am trying something new with my diet and lifestyle choices. The most recent addition...juicing! I've been reading the book 'The PH Miracle' by Robert Young. He is highly regarded by the likes of Kris Carr, author of the only actually cool and readable cancer book I received last year 'Crazy Sexy Cancer'. She along with a large community of people believe that by keeping your body in an alkaline state you create an environment where disease cannot thrive. Broken down to it's simplest form the belief here is that all disease is attributed to your body being in an acidic state.
So, how to you abolish acidity and become alkaline? Well...you basically become a vegan and take lot's of pills. I already take lot's of pills, so I figure why not try the lifestyle and see how it feels? I bought a roll of ph strips from Whole Foods and I started buying distilled water and adding baking soda to it (gag...), and changed up my diet to mostly raw and vegan food choices. I peed on the strips all day for several weeks and found that my body has an immediate response to eating and drinking this way. The water is really key...but the rest of it helps too.
It affects me on a number of levels. I don't crave sugar as badly when I eat this way. I'm not doing perfectly there, much to my frustration. Why oh why must every person I work with have fun sized candy bars spilling out of their work areas to torture me? But in the first week I fell off the wagon under the temptation of a free chicken wrap, and about 10 minutes after eating it I wanted sugar so badly I could hardly concentrate. It was enough to convince me that animal products (at least meat) really trigger my sugar cravings.
The thing is...I really like eating meat and dairy. This change has not been easy. I friggin' love cheese. I love a hearty chicken soup. I'm not sure it will be a permanent change but I am giving it some time to see how it really makes me feel.
And juicing...alkaline folks are way into it. A decent juicer is super expensive and I was talking with one of my yoga teachers about it. She said "My husband and I have a juicer we haven't used in ages...would you like to borrow it?" I took her offer as a sign from god that I am supposed to be juicing. It turned out to be a Champion model, one that I had been reading about online as being a really good choice. It weighs about a 100 lbs, but it only has 4 parts and the model has not changed in years. It's sturdy, simple, and only after about a week on the learning curve I am now cranking out a fresh juice for myself in the morning and at night.
The focus is on green juices...not fruit juices b/c they have a ton of sugar in them. The first weekend I had the juicer I went to the farmers market and if it was green and leafy I bought it. I'm getting it down to a science now, and I have been mixing up the greens. Tonights juice was: Arugula (a very spicy green!), dinosaur kale, Italian parsley, red cabbage, broccoli, cucumber, beet, ginger, garlic and lemon. Once the juice is ready you are not supposed to just slug it down either. You are supposed to swish and 'chew' it a bit to allow your saliva to mix in and aid the enzymes and digestion. All the reading I did warned that it takes some time to get used to the taste of green juices, but I think my pallet is very seasoned from all the swamp water tasting herbs I take...and I really like them! Now that I no longer drink coffee, and I have also recently given up green tea (caffeine is acidic..)these really fill in the gap. I do notice they affect my energy too. Two weeks or so in, I woke up one morning and basically bounced out of bed. I have not 'bounced' out of bed since I was a kid.
A friend in my acting class was teasing me a little while ago that I am always eating or drinking something with at least 3 syllables. Kombucha...tahini...turmeric... Colorful foods and drinks that are aimed at flooding my body with nutrients and vitality on a cellular level.
I am seriously thinking about looking into a colonic. This is another thing that the alkaline people swear by. Apparently your intestines and colon can get a build up that affects the absorption of nutrients as food passes through them.
I really look at the things I'm trying, and thinking of trying with more than a little wonderment.
Just a little sample of life in Oz. What an overwhelming place to be.
